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Stone Age attack has Rams grounded
Sports Columnist Bernie Miklasz
[More columns]Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/23/2009
NFL games are won through the air. The game has changed. Rushing for 3 yards and a punch in the mouth is the equivalent of black-and-white television in a flat-screen, high-definition TV world.
Roll over, Vince Lombardi.
We saw this new reality verified again Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome, when the Arizona Cardinals lost starting quarterback Kurt Warner — and their offense — for the second half. And the Cardinals managed to hold on for a 21-13 victory because the Rams are incapable of putting together a dangerous or consistent passing attack.
In the first half, Warner pretty much did what he wanted to the Rams defense, completing 15 of 19 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. And Warner's unstoppable passing set up 126 yards worth of first-half rushing (at 8.4 yards a pop) as the Cardinals streaked to a 21-3 lead.
But Warner got dinged on an Arizona TD drive late in the half, suffered concussion-like symptoms and didn't return. His replacement, Matt Leinart, handed off to the backs, flipped some short passes and avoided doing anything stupid. The Cardinals did not score in the second half.
On the other side, the Rams had Marc Bulger completing only 19 of 37 passes. He threw a bad interception. He did not throw a touchdown pass. He made a lot of grumpy faces. And he completed only one of four passes in the red zone.
The Rams continue to squander valuable opportunities to score. This season Bulger has completed only eight of 27 passes in the red zone, and it's no coincidence that the Rams have the NFL's worst red-zone scoring percentage, or that they are averaging only 11.3 points a game.
Sunday's game offered a nice refresher course on two points:
— To the folks out there who insist that Warner needs great receivers to be successful: Please watch the second half of Sunday's game again and tell me where the Arizona wideouts were. They disappeared. Arizona's offense completely changed when Warner departed. The Cardinals stopped taking chances. The downfield passing attack vanished. The running game turned sluggish. Warner's receivers — especially Larry Fitzgerald — are spectacular. But do not forget Warner's excellence in getting the rock to them with perfect timing and precision. Warner emboldens Arizona's offense; the team personality changes when he isn't there.
— I'll say it again: The Rams need to draft and develop an elite quarterback, and they must draft and cultivate an elite wide receiver. Without a new pitcher and catcher in place for 2010 and beyond, this team will remain behind the times.
The top eight passing teams in the NFL have a combined 59-20 record through Sunday. And then you have the Rams, who are stuck in a primordial age of football.
Steven Jackson is a strong power back. He breaks tackles, piles up yards and has crashed the 1,000-yard barrier for the fifth consecutive season. Since the start of the 2005 season, Jackson is third in the NFL in rushing yards, and he's second in total yards from scrimmage. And despite Jackson's admirable efforts, the Rams are 20-54 over that time.
The Cardinals, all but laughing at the very notion that the Rams could hurt them in the passing game, brought both safeties up to the line of scrimmage to wrestle with Jackson. And Jackson had to be extra tough in rushing 24 times for 116 yards and a TD. The Cardinals put up a gantlet.
An NFL team with a respectable passing attack would have burned the Cardinals for having the audacity to brush off the threat of the forward pass.
But the Cardinals knew they had nothing to worry about with Bulger and this crew of receivers. Bulger had some moments, threw a few impressive strikes in the second half, and he got knocked around quite a bit. He played in pain. That's always worthy of respect. But Bulger finished the game with a putrid passer rating of 57.8. And if Bulger wasn't underthrowing receivers, the receivers were running poor routes, or the QB and the wideouts were having communication issues.
Unless this changes, Steven Jackson is destined to go down as the Floyd Little of his era. Little — a finalist for 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration -- was a superb back who took a beating in donating his valiant career to a losing cause for the Denver Broncos from 1967 through 1975. The Broncos, inept in other areas, went 42-64-5 with Little in the lineup.
On a day when Jackson clinched his franchise-record fifth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season, he walked out of The Ed with another loss in his gut. The Rams are wasting Jackson's talent.
All in all it was a disappointing day for the 1-9 Rams. The final score was misleading; without the Warner injury, this is a blowout.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo and staff weren't sharp. Spagnuolo should have challenged a remarkably poor spot of the ball by the officials on a third-down running play that denied the Rams a first down at the Arizona 22-yard line. The Rams came away with no points. And there were multiple debatable decisions on whether to kick a field goal or go for a first down or touchdown.
An eight-point loss to a playoff-bound team was a step back for the Rams, who will continue to lose ground until they make a commitment to go airborne by joining the NFL's new world order.
Sports Columnist Bernie Miklasz
[More columns]Bernie Miklasz
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/23/2009
NFL games are won through the air. The game has changed. Rushing for 3 yards and a punch in the mouth is the equivalent of black-and-white television in a flat-screen, high-definition TV world.
Roll over, Vince Lombardi.
We saw this new reality verified again Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome, when the Arizona Cardinals lost starting quarterback Kurt Warner — and their offense — for the second half. And the Cardinals managed to hold on for a 21-13 victory because the Rams are incapable of putting together a dangerous or consistent passing attack.
In the first half, Warner pretty much did what he wanted to the Rams defense, completing 15 of 19 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns. And Warner's unstoppable passing set up 126 yards worth of first-half rushing (at 8.4 yards a pop) as the Cardinals streaked to a 21-3 lead.
But Warner got dinged on an Arizona TD drive late in the half, suffered concussion-like symptoms and didn't return. His replacement, Matt Leinart, handed off to the backs, flipped some short passes and avoided doing anything stupid. The Cardinals did not score in the second half.
On the other side, the Rams had Marc Bulger completing only 19 of 37 passes. He threw a bad interception. He did not throw a touchdown pass. He made a lot of grumpy faces. And he completed only one of four passes in the red zone.
The Rams continue to squander valuable opportunities to score. This season Bulger has completed only eight of 27 passes in the red zone, and it's no coincidence that the Rams have the NFL's worst red-zone scoring percentage, or that they are averaging only 11.3 points a game.
Sunday's game offered a nice refresher course on two points:
— To the folks out there who insist that Warner needs great receivers to be successful: Please watch the second half of Sunday's game again and tell me where the Arizona wideouts were. They disappeared. Arizona's offense completely changed when Warner departed. The Cardinals stopped taking chances. The downfield passing attack vanished. The running game turned sluggish. Warner's receivers — especially Larry Fitzgerald — are spectacular. But do not forget Warner's excellence in getting the rock to them with perfect timing and precision. Warner emboldens Arizona's offense; the team personality changes when he isn't there.
— I'll say it again: The Rams need to draft and develop an elite quarterback, and they must draft and cultivate an elite wide receiver. Without a new pitcher and catcher in place for 2010 and beyond, this team will remain behind the times.
The top eight passing teams in the NFL have a combined 59-20 record through Sunday. And then you have the Rams, who are stuck in a primordial age of football.
Steven Jackson is a strong power back. He breaks tackles, piles up yards and has crashed the 1,000-yard barrier for the fifth consecutive season. Since the start of the 2005 season, Jackson is third in the NFL in rushing yards, and he's second in total yards from scrimmage. And despite Jackson's admirable efforts, the Rams are 20-54 over that time.
The Cardinals, all but laughing at the very notion that the Rams could hurt them in the passing game, brought both safeties up to the line of scrimmage to wrestle with Jackson. And Jackson had to be extra tough in rushing 24 times for 116 yards and a TD. The Cardinals put up a gantlet.
An NFL team with a respectable passing attack would have burned the Cardinals for having the audacity to brush off the threat of the forward pass.
But the Cardinals knew they had nothing to worry about with Bulger and this crew of receivers. Bulger had some moments, threw a few impressive strikes in the second half, and he got knocked around quite a bit. He played in pain. That's always worthy of respect. But Bulger finished the game with a putrid passer rating of 57.8. And if Bulger wasn't underthrowing receivers, the receivers were running poor routes, or the QB and the wideouts were having communication issues.
Unless this changes, Steven Jackson is destined to go down as the Floyd Little of his era. Little — a finalist for 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration -- was a superb back who took a beating in donating his valiant career to a losing cause for the Denver Broncos from 1967 through 1975. The Broncos, inept in other areas, went 42-64-5 with Little in the lineup.
On a day when Jackson clinched his franchise-record fifth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season, he walked out of The Ed with another loss in his gut. The Rams are wasting Jackson's talent.
All in all it was a disappointing day for the 1-9 Rams. The final score was misleading; without the Warner injury, this is a blowout.
Coach Steve Spagnuolo and staff weren't sharp. Spagnuolo should have challenged a remarkably poor spot of the ball by the officials on a third-down running play that denied the Rams a first down at the Arizona 22-yard line. The Rams came away with no points. And there were multiple debatable decisions on whether to kick a field goal or go for a first down or touchdown.
An eight-point loss to a playoff-bound team was a step back for the Rams, who will continue to lose ground until they make a commitment to go airborne by joining the NFL's new world order.
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